260 BULLETIN 16 2, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



K. M. Anderson (1907), writing of the prairie chicken in Iowa, 

 states : " While a certain number remain throughout the winter, large 

 flocks pass southward early in the winter, returning in March." 



The migration was even more marked in the past when the birds 

 were abundant. J. A. Spurrell (1917) states that there was a marked 

 migration of birds away from Sac County, Iowa, until about 1875- 

 1880. After that date, he says, corn became a common crop and birds 

 wintered as well as nested abundantly in that section of the State. 



Prof. W. W. Cooke (1888), in writing of migrations of prairie 

 chickens in Iowa, stated : 



In November and December large flocks of prairie cbickens come from 

 northern Iowa and southern Minnesota, to settle in northern Missouri and 

 southern Iowa. This migration varies in bulk with the severity of the winter. 



During an early cold snap immense flocks come from the northern prairies to 

 southern Iowa, while in mild, open winters the migration is much less pro- 

 nounced. During a cold, wet spring the northward movement in March and 

 April is largely arrested on the arrival of the flocks in northern Iowa ; but an 

 early spring, with fair weather, finds them abundant in the southern tier of 

 counties in Minnesota, and many flocks pass still farther north. The most 

 remarkable feature of this movement is found in the sex of the migrants. It is 

 the females that migrate, leaving the males to brave the winter's cold. Mr. 

 Miller, of Heron Lake, Minn., fairly states the case when he says : " The females 

 in this latitude migrate south in the fall and come back in the spring about one 

 or two days after the first ducks, and they keep coming in flocks of from ten to 

 thirty for about three days, all flying north. The grouse that stay all winter 

 are males." 



In the spring of 1884, at Iowa City, Iowa, the first flocks passed over March 

 10, and the bulk March 22 ; at Newton, Iowa, the bulk was noted March 23. 



Glenn Berner, of Jamestown, N. Dak., says in his notes : 



During the spring of 1924 I witnessed a decided northward movement of 

 prairie chicken flocks numbering 10 to 100, some quite high in the air — late in 

 the afternoon — possibly 30 flocks being seen from one location in two hours 

 and very few of them alighting. 



O. A. Stevens, of Fargo, N. Dak., writes that he saw a flock of 

 prairie chickens fly high overhead on October 25, 1930, a time that 

 coincided with a marked migratory movement of other birds. Mr. 

 Stevens has noted for several years this annual movement taking- 

 place during the latter part of October. He considers these flights 

 as a distinct migration, as the birds were always moving in the same 

 direction. 



Information on the migration of the prairie chicken supplied by 

 F. C. Lincoln, of the Biological Survey, is as follows: 



Although not a true migrant in the strict sense of the word, the prairie chicken 

 has been known to make more or less regular flights north and south. Curi- 

 ously, these movements appear to be confined chiefly to the females, the males 

 remaining in the breeding areas during winter. The flights apparently were 

 not infrequent a generation ago when the birds were much more abundant than 

 at present. The extent of the movement and the number of individuals partici- 



